


How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful

by whitenxght



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Fluff and Angst, Hunk (Voltron) is so Pure, Hurt/Comfort, Insecure Lance (Voltron), M/M, Pining Keith (Voltron), Pining Lance (Voltron), Slow Burn, Supernatural Elements, Violence, Werewolf Keith (Voltron), Werewolves, Witch Lance (Voltron), Witches
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-15
Updated: 2019-01-21
Packaged: 2019-08-24 00:08:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16629071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whitenxght/pseuds/whitenxght
Summary: Lance would never admit that he longed for something more in his life, a change to the same cycle of events that occurred in a single day. Life has been like this for as long as Lance can remember, having never set foot outside the safety of his own hometown.All of that changes, however, when he heals a stranger’s precious dog one morning and they swear to repay Lance in some way, no matter the cost.But they are hiding something that may threaten to break apart the world Lance thought he knew and the life he had built around himself for the past 4 years.With Zarkon rising back to power and the Galra causing chaos and destruction everywhere they go, Lance must put his magic to good use and form the unlikeliest of friendships (or more) in the most unusual situations.





	1. An Unexpected Meeting

Lance smiled up at the blue sky, revelling in the sunlight that had been terribly scarce throughout the previous winter months. 

  
He could feel his magic spring to life, tinting his eyes a deep, glowing blue as the warmth and promise of spring coated his golden skin like a blanket.

  
A small tabby cat, who he had endearingly named Blue, rubbed her cheek against his jeans, meowing for his attention and affectionately wrapping her tail around his leg.  
“Is someone hungry?” he smiled down at her, before turning toward the corroded pathway and making his way into town, Blue following close behind.

  
The trees that had been without any signs of life, now blossomed with activity; a vast spectrum of coloured birds nesting in the protective underlay the trees provided. Lance’s Abuela had planted the trees herself, laughing when he would sit before them for hours, claiming he would stay in that spot until they grew to their full size. 

  
“Lance!” a familiar voice boomed through the calm tranquillity of his walk, startling Lance out of his childhood memories.

  
A large body sprang into his line of vision, big arms ready before enveloping Lance in a bone-crushing hug.   
“Hunk… Can’t breathe buddy,” Lance gasped, tapping the other man on the back as a sign to let go. Hunk blushed and released his death grip, muttering a quick apology.  _Sometimes he just doesn’t know the limit to his own strength_ , Lance thought fondly.

  
“It’s been so long! That last week of winter was  _brutal_ , dude. I’m surprised how quickly the trees recovered,” Hunk beamed, ever his optimistic self.

  
Lance nodded in agreement, forces of dark magic to the East had made the past few months difficult for their village. He’d heard various rumours about Zarkon, leader of the Galra, rising back to power. And he  _really_ did not want to have to deal with those dark magicians again, especially if it involved Zarkon's brat son Lotor. 

  
They had been missing for a while and at the news that they were back, everyone were left shocked and a little scared.   
“I’m just glad to have the sun back, more ladies to impress now I’m at my maximum potential,” Lance joked, flashing his best smile when Hunk became increasingly anxious with all this talk of dark magic. Hunk laughed, seemingly grateful for the change of subject before falling into step beside Lance when the town came into view.

  
They stayed like that for a while, walking beside each other, with the occasional rustling of trees and waking wildlife and Lance was glad to see that life had returned to normal.  
“I better get going, Lance,” Hunk clamped a large hand on his shoulder before adding, “But please don’t go off into the forest alone, again. Injured animal or not, I don’t think I can take the stress with all these Galra running around.” 

  
Lance nodded his head in silent agreement and made his way back on the path; Hunk had a tendency to worry about everyone, with or without the threats present.   
He came to a stop in front of a small, cosy hut which was covered in intricate spirals of green vines and white paint that had started to peel away.

  
A large wooden door lay at the front of the hut, a pleasant and snug aura surrounding the area. Lance grasped the key in his pocket and inserted it in the waiting keyhole and a chiming doorbell signalled his arrival as he opened his store for the first time in a while. Blue leaped right onto the store counter and sat patiently, watching Lance walk to the food cabinet and fish out some cat food. 

  
Several sacks of different herbs hung from the ceiling, directly above the counter. With a wave of his hand, one sack dropped into his awaiting palm and he drew out a delicate stalk of peppermint. 

  
Carefully, Lance cut up the herb and placed each piece on Blue’s breakfast.  
“Come on Blue, it’s good for you,” he chided, when Blue sniffed the food and meowed in complaint. 

  
A loud knock on his door saved the cat from another lecture from Lance, but she wasn’t out of the woods yet!

  
When the knocks grew more insistent Lance called out, “One minute!” from the kitchen.   
On his way to the entrance, he pointed at Blue and told her to eat her breakfast, ensuring she remained in optimal health. He really did not want to see that frightened and thin kitten she used to be, when she wandered up to his doorstep all those months ago.

  
The door opened to reveal a very flustered and stressed young man. Regrettably, Lance noted that he had a mullet and was dressed in black jeans, a t-shirt and leather jacket. But, the first thing that  _really_  caught his attention were those piercing, violet eyes which was unusual for a normal human. His instincts told him this boy was probably a witch too, mixed with something else he couldn’t quite put his finger on. The man was probably around his age, if not older. 

  
“Please,” the stranger gasped, clutching the door until his knuckles went white. His face was deathly pale despite the obvious flush that covered his cheeks, probably from running.

  
Concern bubbled in his stomach, healing magic springing to the ready.  
“My dog is - she’s very sick… I - I don’t know how long she has - please, you can help her… right?” the man ranted, eyes wide and pleading.

  
“I’m sure we can fix this,” Lance smiled in a comforting manner, a more mature voice replacing his usual boyish tone.   
The stranger nodded and sprinted down the steps, making his way onto the path before Lance could even blink.

  
“Wait! I just need to get some things,” he rushed back into the shop, stuffing some herbs into his pocket on his way and walking out the door again. Nodding at the man, Lance followed him past the rows of trees that covered each side of the path and into the depths of the surrounding forest.

  
When the both of them reached a small clearing; sunlight threading through the small gaps of the foliage that encompassed the area, small whimpers sounded from a large husky that lay on the ground. Dark, red blood oozed from a wound in its side and the creature immediately began struggling to stand the moment the other man ran over to it.  

  
“Jesus…” Lance muttered. “What happened to you, girl?” The cut was deep, but the worst of the bleeding seemed to have stopped. However, it was infected if the abnormalities and unhealthy colouring around the wound were anything to go by. It wasn’t uncommon for such severe infections to make an injured animal sick.

  
Allowing his magic to flare to life, Lance laid his hands on the pup, whispering short comforting words and calming murmurings that were carried away in the wind. He felt the magic travel through his body and into that of the injured dog before him, eradicating the infection and slowly closing the seeping wound in its side.

When it was done, the glow faded from his eyes once again and the magic flew right back into his body.

“You should give her some of this, it helps with the aftershock of being healed so suddenly,” Lance reached into his pocket and drew out several herbs he had previously collected from his bench.

  
He glanced at the stranger beside him and handed him the herbs, the man’s eyes were wide with wonder before flicking down to his healed dog and then back to Lance in an instant.

  
“How….?” he trailed off, words failing as shock and confusion joined his changing expressions.  

  
“I’m a healer, it’s what I do,” Lance shrugged as if it were obvious. He turned his back on the confused man and his excited dog, before walking back the way they had come.

  
“Hey! Now wait a minute,” the stranger yelled over to him, catching up in a few strides.  
Doubt settled deep in Lance’s stomach, as did a sense of nervousness. Maybe this was a bad idea, what if he was wrong and this unusual man was actually human? Humans never took well to magic, which was why Lance used magic glamour’s when they were in the area.

  
But seeing the happy dog that was now bounding restlessly next to her owner, Lance couldn’t bring himself to regret healing the pup.

  
“Now, what do you want me to do?” the man asked once he caught up with Lance and the brunet shot him a confused look. 

  
“What do you mean?”

  
“Since you did this for me, I have to repay you somehow,” mullet rolled his eyes, gesturing to his dog. 

  
“I just said healing is what I do. It’s my job dude, you don’t have to repay me,” this has never happened to Lance before and he was stuck between accepting the offer and rejecting it.

  
The pale boy just sighed in exasperation, frustration weaving into his voice as his patience grew thin, “Look, if I told you that I  _have_  to repay you, would you agree?”

  
“Fine,” he relented, although he didn’t appreciate a stranger following him around - he’s already got a possessive cat to take care of, that apparently required his attention all the time.

  
The man nodded, holding out his hand and waiting for Lance to shake it. After sighing dramatically, the brunet gave in and shook his hand.  
“I really hope you won’t be following me around too much, Mr….” Lance trailed off, in a momentary panic he realised that he never asked for a name.

“Keith,” the man chipped in. “And that crazy dog is Kosmo.” The husky’s head popped up at the sound of her name and casually bounded over to where Keith and Lance were talking.

When Keith shot him an expectant look, Lance blushed and bit his tongue to hold his back an untimely joke.

“The name’s Lance,” he winked, shooting finger guns in the air.

“Okay Lance, you better come up with a way I can fulfill this debt if you don’t want me hanging around too long,” Keith smirked, mirth filling his eyes.

  
_This was going to be a very long day._

 

 


	2. The Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The loud pitter patter of rain filled the silent room where Lance waited, eyes glowing dark blue and Blue waiting patiently on the kitchen counter.
> 
> A soft breeze whipped through the house, rattling the herbs that hung above the banister.  
> The storm would come tonight, and Lance was shaking with excitement.
> 
> A sudden thump at his doorstep startled him out of his state and heightened his anxiety. Cautiously, he wondered to the door, praying that it wasn’t a human.
> 
> Tightening his grip on the doorknob, Lance opened the door and a forceful whip of rain slammed into him like a brick.
> 
> Lance squinted into the night, water clogging his vision as a black, hulking mass appeared out of the dark, wintry night. If not for the stuttering lights on either side of his door, Lance wouldn’t have seen the almost camouflaged shape that had presumably caused all the ruckus.
> 
> Once his eyes adjusted to the light, he gasped. Soaked from the rain and whimpering slightly, stood a huge wolf that towered over him.

Sparks filled the air around them, edging dangerously close to Lance’s already blackened wall in their haste to burn down the apartment.

It had started off as seemingly mundane banter; Keith was on the receiving end of Lance’s rude(ish) and downright annoying remarks and frequently rose up to each with a statement of his own.

Keith failed to mention that his magic was closely linked to his emotions - in fact, he failed to mention that he had any magic at all - and as their fight became figuratively heated, flames literally came flying out of his hands, some managing to nick Lance on the arm.

Lucky for Lance, his home wasn’t up in flames quite yet (and neither was he), but the same could not be said for the burnt wall that suffered profusely due to Keith’s short-temper.

“Dude!” Lance screamed, patience wearing thin after spending a considerable amount of time dodging random bursts of fire and watching uselessly as they repeatedly attacked his poor wall. “Calm down!”

After a few moments, Keith seemed to snap out of his rage and glanced down at his own hands in horror, realisation dawning upon him. He snapped his head in Lance’s direction and pointed an accusing finger at him that, thankfully, was not shooting fire.

“This isn’t my fault! You started the stupid fight in the first place!” he hollered above Lance’s groan of pain when he assessed his small burns.

“Well you better control this soon, so you don’t burn me to ashes!” the brunet shot back.  
At least we know he’s a witch now, an unhelpful part of his brain supplied. 

“I had it perfectly under control until you made me mad!” 

Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, Keith willed his magic down, burying the anger and frustration deep in his body before it eventually disappeared. 

Along with it, the fire slowly came to a stop, leaving behind small embers that floated carelessly to the ground. 

“Holy crow,” Lance whispered, turning a forceful glare on Keith when he spotted his burnt wall.  
Now that both boys were still recovering from the shock of what just happened, they considered the damage dealt to Lance’s home.

Guilt settled deep in Keith’s stomach - he hadn’t meant to lose his temper. However, the more his anger grew, the harder it became to control his magic.

Keith stubbornly set his sight on the part of Lance’s house that wasn’t burnt and tapped his foot against the wooden floorboards.

I’m starting to get the vibe that this debt is causing me more harm than if I had just refused, Lance shook his head sadly. At least his home had lasted this long before a temperamental fire witch came along and ruined everything. 

But there was something more to the boy before him; beneath the thick layer of magic that stretched around his being, something more sinister rested.

Much later, when Lance wasn’t focused on grieving the damage dealt to his poor house, he would realise just what he had missed. Like the way Keith’s eyes went a feral yellow, the colour overtaking the white sclera and how his blunt nails elongated to an inhuman length when his fury became uncontrollable. It had only appeared for a short period of time, a matter of seconds, really. The moment it disappeared, Lance would begin to think that he had just imagined it all.

But now Lance merely groaned in frustration and made his way into the kitchen, Keith trailing close behind.

“Look, I’m sorry. I should have told you about this part of me, but I didn’t want to risk changing the way you saw me,” says Keith.

Lance did feel a little guilty for being so dramatic and it’s not like he would see Keith any differently, but hell if he were to tell Keith that. Besides, his wall is ruined - nothing a little magic couldn’t fix, but Lance was lazy. 

Desperate for a change of subject, Lance raked through his brain for a new topic. (Mostly because he was close to apologising and his pride just wouldn’t take it).

“So, what’s with this whole ‘repayment’ thing?” he blurted, words rushed and tone way too nonchalant.

If Keith picked up on it, he said nothing; posture stiff and face blank. He seemed to snap out of a daze at Lance’s question.

“I guess it’s always been part of how I grew up. My... father would teach me that if someone did something for me, I would have to find a way to return the favour. In fact, it would be much easier if you could just figure out what you want already,” Keith said, frustration leaking into his voice.

It’s not Lance’s fault he couldn’t come up with a way to help Keith with this. He figured that it would sort itself out eventually, but nothing has come up yet and unfortunately - though Lance is grateful for the company - Keith is apparently stuck with him until something does. 

“It’s not like I expect you to do this,” he huffed in complaint. Keith rolled his eyes in amusement.

“It doesn’t really matter what you think of it. Why can’t you understand that I don’t have a choice in this?”

Lance turned his back and wandered out the door, muttering something about Keith bringing this upon himself. 

A distant crack of thunder made both boys jump in their place and a wave of shivers cascaded down Lance’s spine. The storm was early? He’d thought it was scheduled to happen sometime in the next 2 days.

“That sounds nasty,” Keith muttered.

Lance looked at him and considered. Would it be bad if Keith stayed through the storm? It’s not like he’s human and would be completely defenceless. But, Lance and some of his family were the only witches he knew to be affected by the storm, magic wise. 

“...You should probably head back,” he said, trying to sound as composed as possible.

Lance could tell that this storm would be particularly ‘nasty’ when his magic tingled beneath his skin, anticipation running thick in his veins. Unbeknownst to the human realm, magic storms happened once a fortnight and released tremendous amounts of energy, even so it could be seen to the naked eye. It was at this time that his powers would be at their peak and therefore much more difficult to control.

If Keith’s magic was closely linked with his emotions, then Lance’s would be with storms.

He watched Keith make his way out the door, the pale man grumbling in frustration as he tripped over a rock in the gravelly path, and when he glanced up at the darkening sky, growing thick with cloud cover, the sky rumbled in warning. 

\---

The loud pitter patter of rain filled the silent room where Lance waited, eyes glowing dark blue and Blue waiting patiently on the kitchen counter.

A soft breeze whipped through the house, rattling the herbs that hung above the banister.  
The storm would come tonight, and Lance was shaking with excitement.

A sudden thump at his doorstep startled him out of his state and heightened his anxiety. Cautiously, he wondered to the door, praying that it wasn’t a human.

Tightening his grip on the doorknob, Lance opened the door and a forceful whip of rain slammed into him like a brick.

Lance squinted into the night, water clogging his vision as a black, hulking mass appeared out of the dark, wintry night. If not for the stuttering lights on either side of his door, Lance wouldn’t have seen the almost camouflaged shape that had presumably caused all the ruckus.

Once his eyes adjusted to the light, he gasped. Soaked from the rain and whimpering slightly, stood a huge wolf that towered over him. 

Deep cuts and lacerations covered it entirely and violet eyes stared unblinking at Lance - unnervingly so - and surprised the witch when it made no move to attack. His magic screamed at him to heal the fresh wounds, its impulse more difficult to control with the magic energy the storm was radiating. 

To quell his nerves, Lance whispered, “Let’s get you inside, please don’t kill me.” When he glanced upwards to acknowledge the animal, a large maw of gleaming teeth greeted him when he spoke. 

Blue suddenly appeared underneath Lance, hissing at the wolf when its mouth got painfully close. She wrapped her tail comfortingly around Lance’s leg as she usually would and glared defiantly at the creature. 

Displeased, the wolf growled low in its throat and its teeth gleamed threateningly in the light; a warning.

Lance turned back toward his house, hearing the clicking of claws on the floor behind him. The counter top full of herbs waited before them and Lance hurried to clear it and make room for the body of a large wolf (to be honest, he was surprised it even fit through the door).

At the click of his fingers, the now clean banister was covered with a thick cloth for comfort.   
Lance turned his gaze back to the wolf - who was now extremely close, closer than Lance would have liked - and urged it on top of the table.

The wolf winced when the movement irritated its injuries and Lance’s hands edged toward the animal, magic pulsing through his very being.

Finally, when it was settled, Lance gently lay his hands on the area of skin that wasn’t covered in cuts and allowed his healing magic to run from his body and the wolf.

Eventually all the tension drained from the creature as its injuries disappeared; head resting more comfortably on the banister and muscles relaxing.

Lance smiled softly - for a wild wolf, it was extremely well behaved. He’s had some unfortunate cases when an animal would straight out attack him when he first tried to make contact. Most of those didn’t end well for Lance or the animal, which was why he was glad those cases were a rarity.

His magic threaded back into his being, all the ugly wounds that covered the wolf’s skin were gone, no evidence of their existence remaining. 

Blue, who had previously been waiting in the hallway, began growling and clawing at the counter top, glaring daggers at the healed animal that lay on it. 

“Now, now Blue. That’s not how we treat our guests,” Lance scolded, colour that engulfed his eyes now fading back to normal. His cat merely meowed at him in frustration and despite the amount of time he’d been able to understand her, her behaviour confused him.

Maybe he was just overthinking things. His mind was scattered through many different yet linked subjects and it was not uncommon for his thoughts to be centred on Keith, the mysterious yet short-tempered witch with a foggy past. Thoughts that were much more common than Lance would like to admit. 

After a final check over the banister and its occupant, Lance yawned and padded towards his bedroom, ensuring that he locked the door in case the wolf decided it was hungry.

With the comfort of his bed sheets and his cat, Lance allowed himself to fall into the welcoming depths of unconsciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry this took so long to update!!
> 
> I'll try and post new chapters more frequently but school's about to start soon, so no promises...
> 
> The plot is all over the place at the moment, but it will come together (at some point).
> 
> Thank you so much for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first published work, sooooo comments and constructive criticism are always appreciated (:  
> I don't know whether or not to keep expanding on this idea, but who knows?? Maybe I'll find a way to write that isn't just procrastinating doing work  
> Thanks for reading!!


End file.
